Royal Belfast Academical Institution
The''' Royal Belfast Academical Institution''' (often abbreviated to RBAI and referred to as either Belfast Inst or, simply, Inst) is an all-boys grammar school, established in 1810 and located within the heart of Belfast; the common contraction 'Inst' gives rise to current students and old boys of the school being referred to as Instonians. The school holds a long proud tradition with the [[Ulster Schools' Cup|'Ulster Schools' Cup']], being one of the first schools to establish and participate in the competition, as well as taking part in the inaugral final and holding the second best record in the competition overall. Competitive History First XV The Early Years (pre-1900) RBAI's 1stXV was established in 1873 and had the honour of taking part in the first ever Ulster Schools' Cup final just three years later. They were defeated in that final at the hands of RS Armagh by a score of 3-0; a final which seemed to set a precedent for Inst as they reached four more finals within the next ten years, only to finish as runners-up on each occasion. It was during this time (the 1882-83 season) that the team adopted their now traditional hooped shirts of black and old goldRBAI School History: point no.22 http://www.rbai.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=45. 1886 saw them come especially close as the final moved into extra-time, but Coleraine Inst had the final say, winning the match 5-0. If RBAI were looking for revenge after that result it did not take too long in coming: they finally managed to clich their first Ulster Schools' Cup title 3-0 in 1888 at Coleraine's expense and went on to do the same two more times before they end of the century, winning 16-0 in 1890 and 6-5 in 1895. New Traditions (1900-1929) Prior to 1880, RBAI featured in three finals; three finals which they lost each time to RS Armagh. In 1903, exactly twenty years after their last meeting in the final, Inst finally managed to defeat Armagh in a convincing 28-0 win, this being the first time Armagh had ever lost a final. During a period of dominance by Portora RS, RBAI manged to reach another championship game in 1907, but lost 5-0 against RS Dungannon, Dungannon's only title to date. 1912 and 1916 saw RBAI go head-to-head against Methodist College and Campbell College respectively for the first time in the Cup final's history; two teams who today are considered as Belfast Inst's greatest rivals due to their proximity and competitive records. on both of these ocassions, it was RBAI who came out on top, winning 11-3 against Methody and 3-0 against Campbell. Of course, in 1917 Campbell turned the tables and defeated Inst 9-3 to win the trophy; however, RBAI went on to retrieve the title the following year, defeating RS Dungannon 24-5, and subsequently defending the title in 1919 against their Campbellian rivals by a score of 8 points to zero - the RBAI 1stXV winning consequtive titles for the first time in its history. The 1920s were a time to forget for Inst, reaching only one final where they suffered a 10-0 defeat against the dynnasty team of this decade, Campbell College. Methody were also dominant in the final few years of this period and so RBAI did not feature again in a final until 1930. Old Gold... (1930-1959) A new decade saw the start of a period that may never be repeated in RBAI's or even the Cup's history. It started tamely enough with a 14-5 victory in the 1930 final against old rivals, Methody, and was followed by a spot in the 1932 final. This game was lost to Campbell by a score of 11-0, but, having reached two finals, meant that this decade was already an improvement on the last! However, better things were to come, and from 1933 to 1935 Inst secured victory in all three finals setting a new standard for the school; even sweeter was the fact that they won two of the finals against Methody, albeit after a replay in 1935. A close call saw them defeat Coleraine Inst 7-6 in 1938 to win the championship once more and so the 30s ended with RBAI having won 5 out of the 6 finals they appeared in. In the few years that followed, Coleraine Inst and Portora RS became dominant forces and so Belfast Inst had to wait until 1942 before having another chance to win the title. Of course this meant coming up against Portra who were chasing the oppurtunity of winning three consequtive championships for the first time in their history. In the end, both sets of players were rewarded to some extent as the game ended 5-5 and the title was shared for the first time as both schools decided against a replay. ...and Black (1960-1989) Prior to Other Senior Teams Insert info Medallions Insert info Junior Teams Insert info Major Honours Ulster Schools' Cup *'Outright Titles: 29 '(1888; 1890; 1895; 1903; 1912; 1916; 1918; 1919; 1930; 1933; 1934; 1935; 1938; 1943; 1944; 1945; 1946; 1947; 1948; 1951; 1957; 1959; 1970; 1995; 1998; 2000; 2003; 2005; 2007) *'Shared Titles: 4 '(1942; 1954; 1960; 1962) *'Runners-Up: 19 '(1876; 1881; 1883; 1886; 1907; 1917; 1922; 1932; 1949; 1950; 1961; 1973; 1974; 1980; 1983; 1986; 1997; 2001; 2009) Ulster Schools' Subsidiary Shield *'Outright Titles: ? '(2008) *'Shared Titles: ?' (?) *'Runners-Up: ? '(?) Ulster Schools' Medallion Shield *'Outright Titles: ?' (2008) Current Squads Seniors Medallions Notable Players *[[Mark Meenan|'Mark Meenan']] - holds the record for most points scored by one player in an Ulster Schools' Cup final See Also References External links